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Lot Essay
Otto Eerelman, born in Groningen in 1839, was trained at the Academy Minerva where he received drawing and painting lessons from the director and historical painter J.H. Egenberger (1822-1897), who also taught Hendrik Willem and Taco Mesdag. Eerelman worked in Paris for a short time in 1867 and in Brussels from 1874. At first Otto Eerelman devoted himself to painting history pieces, portraits, genre pieces and detailed renderings of Dutch interiors. At the beginning of the 1880s Eerelman devoted himself to the portrayal of horses and dogs. An example of one of his horse portraits is the well-known picture of a young Wilhelmina with her pony 'Baby'. During a period of thirty years Eerelman dedicated himself to documenting the life of the princess and later Queen of the Netherlands and hereby established his reputation.
However, his portraits of dogs were always most popular. Many well-to-do dog owners brought their faithful companions to the artist's house at the Elandstraat in The Hague where it would stay for a period of time while being portrayed. Otto Eerelman painted all sorts of breeds, but preferred the larger breeds such as the Saint-Bernhard, the subject of the present painting. Eerelman was a master in capturing the expression and the characters of the dogs as well as their shiny pelisse.
Eerelman composed several paintings with Saint-Bernhard pups. Not only the present lot is an example of this, but the collection of the Groninger Museum also holds a painting of two pups playing with cress in an almost identical, but smaller composition. The present charming painting shows a bunch of Saint-Bernhard pups playing with Indian cress. The four little rascals are placed in an ingenious composition: one dog is seen on the back wandering about by the fence in the background, two pups are placed in the middle playfully pulling the stems of the Indian cress while keeping a close eye on each other whilst the pup on the right is inquisitively sniffing around. In this painting Eerelman brilliantly shows the softness of the furs and the cheerful character of the pups.
However, his portraits of dogs were always most popular. Many well-to-do dog owners brought their faithful companions to the artist's house at the Elandstraat in The Hague where it would stay for a period of time while being portrayed. Otto Eerelman painted all sorts of breeds, but preferred the larger breeds such as the Saint-Bernhard, the subject of the present painting. Eerelman was a master in capturing the expression and the characters of the dogs as well as their shiny pelisse.
Eerelman composed several paintings with Saint-Bernhard pups. Not only the present lot is an example of this, but the collection of the Groninger Museum also holds a painting of two pups playing with cress in an almost identical, but smaller composition. The present charming painting shows a bunch of Saint-Bernhard pups playing with Indian cress. The four little rascals are placed in an ingenious composition: one dog is seen on the back wandering about by the fence in the background, two pups are placed in the middle playfully pulling the stems of the Indian cress while keeping a close eye on each other whilst the pup on the right is inquisitively sniffing around. In this painting Eerelman brilliantly shows the softness of the furs and the cheerful character of the pups.